The Business Car Files


increasingly see a lot of [other manufacturers’] main fleet models are either not on sale at the moment, or if you can order one then it’s a 2023 lead time.


“Even pre-Covid, pre-supply issues, most fleets used to operate a six-month kind of outlook, saying to the driver ‘Get your car on order within six months’. So, I think if we are saying we can get you a car in eight months, that is pretty good.”


Although pure EVs take a lot of the current attention in the fleet market, White says hybrids and plug-in hybrids still have a part to play in Hyundai’s strategy.


He says: “We almost jumped over the fleets that were not ready for electric, and we were kind of dealing with those who wanted to go full EV. What we are doing as well now is balancing out that targeted approach to pick up all the fleets who we never engaged with who aren’t ready for EV yet.


“Clearly at some point they have to be, but whereas others have perhaps been selling those fleets petrol or diesel cars for years and years, we never did, we’ve gone straight to the EV content. We’re now almost trying to pick up the rest of it in terms of PHEV, hybrid, where those customers have still got probably one more cycle of cars where they can afford it to be not full EV.


“We’re not U-turning, but we’re trying to pick up all the non-electric fleet opportunity.” When discussing his priorities for the Hyundai fleet team moving forward, White says aftersales and customer care is a strong consideration.


He says: “We are in a nice position where our forward order bank is effectively giving us significant cover for the year’s plan. As long as those vehicles get built then effectively our sales performance will be solid, so we don’t have to panic or worry too much about that.


It does give you then a bit of a chance to look at other areas of the business that we need to address, as opposed to just how we sell more cars.


“We are looking at a number of things at the moment to do with have we got adequate cover in terms of the aftersales and customer care service we are going to give to these new customers, given that some of them have come from other brands. We are trying to understand what they are expecting.


“It’s all very well having this incredible growth but obviously now we have got those customers in cars we need to make sure we are looking after them and that they are staying with the brand. We are trying to do some


sure our dealer network are equipped to be able to understand what business contract hire is, if you’re getting kind of small SME enquiries from their local area.”


Overall, while 2021 was a clear success for the Hyundai fleet team, White still sees plenty of potential for further growth, and is keen for the company to take full advantage of it. He says: “In terms of the true fleet marketplace, we’ve still only got kind of a third of those [customers] we are dealing with, and there is another third that we know who they are, but we are yet to actually get to them. “And then there’s another third that we still haven’t even touched. So there is still, despite our growth, plenty of opportunity to


“We have had this early success but


really our priority now is to maintain that and increase it again.”


projections around if we continue to grow at the level we are, in terms of our database growth, our end-user agreement growth, and our sales growth, can we actually cope with that level of in-life care in terms of what we give to them in terms of at the end of a phone, when they arrive at a dealer, what experience they get there.” According to White, Hyundai is also planning training for its dealer network on business contract hire, since the majority of its previous experience has been with personal leasing. He says: “It’s just trying to make sure that the dealers are equipped to be able to deal with their local business marketplace.


“If somebody comes in, and [the Ioniq 5] sort of lends itself more to a personal lease perhaps than other funding methods as it quite often does with a premium car, we’re just making


go out again and find more customers. We are going to have a new team balance between three points of a triangle – new business, key account management, and then virtual account management.


“So, we manage the smaller fleets through a virtual basis of desk-bound, contact over the phone and email, [have another] third of the team effectively concentrating on finding new business, and a third basically managing our key accounts.


“We are still evolving and it’s by no means job done yet. We have had this early success but really our priority now is to maintain that and increase it again.


“We certainly don’t want to be seen as a one-year wonder – this is very much a long- term plan.”


www.businesscar.co.uk | May 2022 | 25 25%


Percentage of Ioniq 5 true fleet order bank.


Above: The Ioniq 5 has been available since last August.


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